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Re: Feeding for hours

Oh that can be so hard How old is she again? What she is probably doing is boosting your supply for a growth spurt and also doing some comfort sucking . My next advice will not be accepted by all but IF and only IF you have NO nipple confusion at all and you feel that your bfing relationship is completely established then, MAYBE, MAYBE you could offer her a paci ( being in England you may call it a dummy?! ) My ds had a very strong need to suck all of the time and for a short period we did use one just so that I could go to the loo etc.. Why don't you try to swaddle her very tightly, give her a dummy, and put her in a swing for a little while? It is up to you but after 8-9 hrs of constant nursing I know that you are ready for a break?!?

Re: Feeding for hours

DD will be 3 mnth on 10th Feb, i try so hard not to use a dummy especially in th passed week or so - i cant stand the look of them - it looks so unnatural? IF i hug her she stops crying but as soon as i put her down for a few moments she starts screaming - by now i suspect she is over tired and this is adding to the problem - if i swaddle her in her blanket she gets really hot and tends to scream though at this point i am willing to give it another go. truely my DP is usually really supportive of BF'ing but this evening accused me of not feeding her properly - guess even he's tired at this point so i cant blame him and i know he doesnt mean it... i can feel my nerves starting to crackle

Re: Feeding for hours

I've been there and I know how frusterating those little cries can be when you aren't sure how else to help. A couple of things...

1. A lot of women find wearing the baby in a sling to be very helpful. You said if you hold her, she calms down. A sling would allow her to remain close to you, yet give you two free hands. THere are many different styles out there... you may want to check thebabywearer.com or peppermint.com to see which may be best for you.

2. Sometimes when I get to a breaking point, for my own sanity, I hand off ds to my hubby and get away for 10 minutes. I know dh is holding him and he's in loving arms. I also know that ds can sense it when I'm tense, which may stress him more, so I NEED to get away. I go for a walk, take a shower, get on the computer, do some yoga... any thing that refreshes me a bit. Then, I can go back to ds with renewed calmness and he'll often calm down. YOu aren't a bad mommy for not having SUPERHUMAN PATIENCE!!! He will survive and you'll be sane!

Keep us posted!

Kristie L.
LLL Leader
(the poster formerly known as fezzik812)
Wife to Brett, Mommy to Seamus (5.1.05), and Emelie (1.18.08)

Re: Feeding for hours

DD finally setted at 3am after holding her for over an hr (i have a sling but she doesnt ever like me using it - she screams more - same thing happens if you put her in a car seat or push chair - and she will only stop screaming if you take her outside) she slept for 3 hrs till 5am and work again - managed to feed her for 10-15 mins and then she was back off to sleep and shes still asleep now and its 9am (uk) Thank you for the support from everyone last night Kept me from loosing my cool on a little one who hopefully will one day soon grow out of this stage *crosses fingers*

Re: Feeding for hours

Good morning, glad to hear that all is well today. Did you say that you have a swing, ds would only stand to be swaddled or put in the swing when I used the combo of the 2. Also you may want to read The Happiest Baby On The Block, By Dr. Karp, a good fast read and really helped me a lot

Re: Feeding for hours

When my 15 month old was younger she did the same thing. It's probably a combination of wanting cuddling time and a growth spurt. It looks as though from the other posts a lot of babies do this. It's probably a faze and eventually you'll get your evenings back

Re: Feeding for hours

I'm glad to see you are feeling better! We've all had nights like those. I'm embarassed to admit that one night in the early months, after ds had been crying for 5 hours and I was trying to be super mom, I roughly put him down on the bed and said harshly, "Shut up!!!" DH looked at me with big eyes and said "Give him to me. You need a break." I b#*ched back, "Gee, ya think? Thought you'd never ask!" And I stormed out of the room. I came back 20 minutes later and ds was sleeping so sweetly in dh's arms. I felt so awful and guilty for how I reacted (and apologized so profusely to dh and ds). That's the night I learned (1) to ask for help, (2) That I"m not super mom, (3) to take a break if I need one, and (4) that ds and I are SO ATTACHED that he truely senses when I'm upset so it is really important to stay calm.

This, too, shall pass! Keep us posted!

Kristie L.
LLL Leader
(the poster formerly known as fezzik812)
Wife to Brett, Mommy to Seamus (5.1.05), and Emelie (1.18.08)

Re: Feeding for hours

I have had a night like that also, my lc and doula lives about 3 blocks away and I was so ready to just pack ds up and take him to her... Shortly after that we learned that ds liked a bath and a quit routine in the evening. Once we started to stay at home and keep things calm he stayed calm also